Paulie Walnuts

Played by Tony Sirico

"...I was born, grew up, spent a few years in the army, a few more in the can and here I am, a half o' wise guy."

Peter Paul Gualtieri, arguably the most meticulously coiffed and manicured capo in the Soprano crew, was something of a child prodigy. He first displayed the skills he'd utilize in his chosen profession at the tender age of nine: while other kids were dreaming of wielding a bat like the Mick, Paulie was deploying one on a schoolmate's skull. In and out of juvenile correctional facilities for the next several years, Paulie eventually dropped out of school altogether; at seventeen, he became an enforcer for Johnny Boy Soprano. Thereafter his movement up the ranks was steady, albeit punctuated by the occasional prison stretch and an army hitch abbreviated by a Section 8.

Though he's had his fair share of goomars, the only Mrs. Gualtieri has been Nucci, Paulie's mother ? on whom he dotes with the reverence of a true son of Italy.